Flying Without Wings
by joyjellybean
Summary: Another new town, another new home, another new neighbourhood. Follow Max as she journeys through the difficulties of a completely new home area and all the drama and humour that comes with it. All-human. High school.


**Thanks for checking out this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Maximum Ride series**

...

Chapter 1: Moving In

Lamppost... Lamppost... Lamppost... Another lamppost... Lamppost...

I groan in boredom. "Are we nearly there?" I complain to mum.

"Well, we are nearer than we were five minutes ago when you asked the exact same question," Mum replies in annoyance.

"How many minutes left?" I rephrase the question.

"About twenty," she answers.

I moan and bang my head off the back of my seat.

"All we need to do is get off the motorway at the next junction and then find our way to our house, it won't take long."

"Can you drive any faster?" I plead, "We have been in the car forever!"

"If you had just fallen asleep like your sister then the journey would have gone by really quickly," Mum tells me, giving me a quick glance in the rear-view mirror.

I look over at Ella who is sleeping peacefully on my left. Maybe I could...

"Don't even think about it, Max," Mum says in a warning tone.

"What?" I ask innocently.

"You know exactly what," Mum answers sternly, "Leave your sister be until we get off the motorway."

"Fine," I mumble and go back to looking out the window. Lamppost... Lamppost... Lamppost...

A few long, laborious minutes later we turn off the junction and start driving into the town.

"Oh, Max!" Mum exclaims excitedly, "Quick! Wake up your sister!"

I grin evilly and turn to Ella. I open up the pack of raisons I pretended to eat a few hours ago and tip them onto my hand.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" I call throwing raisons at Ella's head.

"Hmm? What?" Ella asks tiredly. She straightens up and as she does so, a few raisons fall off her chest and down into her tank top.

"Eek!" She exclaims in surprise, suddenly wide awake. Ella pulls the raisons out of her t-shirt, "Oh yuck! Max! You are disgusting!"

I cackle evilly. Ella glares and throws the raisons back at me.

"Girls!" Mum chastises, "You are going to cause a car accident! This is our new home area! Don't start arguing; just pay attention to your surroundings!"

"It looks lovely here, mum," Ella smiles looking out of her window.

"Yeah," I agree begrudgingly, "It's nice." Mum beams at us.

I sit back in my seat again and give a small sigh. Another new town, another new home, another new school. With mum's veterinary job being as it is, we have had our fair share of moves over the years. She is constantly being relocated to different areas all over the country to lead different projects. Normally, these projects last a year so we will move into a neighbourhood one summer then move out the next. Our previous move, to Nayroug, lasted an astonishing twenty months. That was just enough time for Ella and I to become completely settled into the small community. I had two great friends, Sam and JJ, who I became very attached to. I didn't anticipate the move. Then, at the beginning of this summer, mum's project had come to a successful end and she had been promoted to a new area, one hundred and fifty miles away. That's where we are now, Nessmond.

"Oh, would you look at that!" Mum exclaims, "An organic supermarket! How wonderful! Max, try and remember where it is, we'll need to have a look in there!"

Beside me Ella is making gagging motions, I grin, "I'll try my best."

"Right," Mum says, "This is the point where I need to concentrate so keep quiet."

We turn onto a busy road, drive past a leisure centre and a small shopping centre. We then we take a left into a quieter road and then a sharp turn into what appears to be a long drive way

"Okay, girls!" Mum says excitedly, "Our house is the very first one."

I take my seatbelt off and look out the back window as mum reverses into our driveway. As soon as the car stops, Ella and I throw ourselves out of the doors. I scramble onto my feet and have a quick glance around.

"I love it!" Ella exclaims as I give a whistle of appreciation. The house looks to be slightly bigger than the last one and the garden appears a great size.

"Right, where should I start the tour?" Mum asks herself.

"The bedrooms?" Ella suggests hopefully.

"Not quite yet," Mum laughs, "Oh, I know, follow me."

Mum leads us to the initial driveway we drove up; it is approximately thirty metres long. "This is what the neighbours refer to as 'The Lane'," she explains, "It's a big driveway that leads to all of our houses. There another three houses down there, two of them are the homes of people that are same ages as you two."

"That's good," Ella says with relief, "That way we will at least know a few people before we start school on Monday."

I groan at the reminder of starting school so soon.

"Don't talk about school!" I beg, "Please!"

Mum rolls her eyes, "You still have the rest of weekend left of your holiday."

I give a whimper of depression.

"Now, now, Max. Save your mourning for later, I still have to show you the rest of the house," Mum says. Ella cheers and my lips twitch upwards.

"Leave your suitcases and stuff in the car," Mum instructs, "We'll take them out once you have seen inside."

We follow mum round to the front of the house. I look around trying to take everything in. The driveway is next to a small side garden which leads to the open front garden. Mum unlocks the porch door and Ella and I barge through.

"Play nice," Mum chastises fondly. Ella and I grin at each other.

"Last week, the delivery guys and I set up all of the furniture so all we need to do is fill up the house with our junk," Mum says as she opens the front door. Again, Ella and I push each other trying to be the first through the door. As I am the stronger and meaner child, I heave my way through the door before her.

"Right," Mum says clapping her hands together, "Downstairs we have the front room, we need to keep that nice for guests, my study, a shower room, my bedroom—"

I share a look with Ella, silently celebrating the fact that we had the whole of upstairs to ourselves.

"—_which," _Mum carries on strongly, noticing our private exchange, "Is right at the bottom of the stairs so don't think I won't be able to hear you two up in the early hours of the morning."

I give mum an innocent stare, "Whatever are you talking about?"

"Don't pretend you don't know," Mum answers insightfully, "I am well aware that you are planning on staying up on your laptop until three every morning messaging people Facebook and Twitter."

"Actually," I inform mum, "I rarely go on those social sites, I am more of a Tumblr and Youtube kind of girl."

"Facebook, Tumblr.. They are all the same thing to me," Mum says with a wave of the hand, "Now, if you don't mind I would like to continue showing you around."

"Go ahead," I grin invitingly.

"Downstairs we also have the kitchen and dining room as well as a back room which will be your television room."

"It's perfect, mum!" Ella gushes, "The colour of the wooden floor is gorgeous and I am loving the kitchen! The cabinets look just like the ones you see in the magazines!"

"I knew you would like it!" Mum smiles at Ella before looking at me expectantly.

"Oh yeah," I nod in agreement, "The size is great too," I put in, "And it is looking very tidy."

"That's only because we haven't ruined it with our mess yet," Mum says knowingly, "Let's keep it this way for as long as possible."

I snort in disbelief; the house will look like a warzone in ten days tops.

"Can we go and see upstairs now?" Ella begs.

"Please!" I contribute.

"Okay," Mum smiles in defeat.

Ella and I turn and sprint to the stairs.

"Max: Your room is the one diagonally to the right of the top of the stair case," Mum shouts after us, "And Ella: Yours is the one on the immediate right of the top of the stairs."

"Mm-kay!" I yell in response as I thunder up the stairs with Ella following closely at my heels.

Gleefully, I run towards my room and explode through the door. My bedroom is pretty big and has two windows, one behind my bed and the other next to my desk. There is also all of my old Ikea furniture and a newly fitted cream carpet. I make a mental note to not spill anything on it.

"It's great, mum!" I exclaim loudly as I dive to lie down on my bed, "It's pretty empty but still amazing."

I hear Ella's girly squeals of approval coming from across the hall so I push myself up off my bed and skip through to her bedroom. Her room is slightly smaller than mine but has the added features of an ensuite shower room and a walk in wardrobe. Two things I had moodily come to accept because as it was pointed out, Ella has a lot more clothes than I do and a greater need for a bathroom directly attached to her room. The latter of the two features I was, and still am not too bothered with seeing as it means I also have my own bathroom, just one that is not in my bedroom but instead, in the hall.

"I love it!" Ella gushes.

"Looks pretty plain to me," I shrug.

"That's because I have not put any of my things in yet," Ella says. I grin at her.

"C'mon," I order grabbing her arm, "Let's go get our stuff."

Fast forward twenty minutes and now I have a sore back and a messy room. I had managed to haul all of my belongings up the stairs and dump them in a not so tidy pile in the middle of my bedroom floor. I groan. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.

After a minute of pondering, I decide to start with my clothes. I begin slowly unpacking them and folding the individual items into drawers and hanging various items up into my wardrobe. Finally, after half an hour of back breaking labour, I am finished with the last clothes box. I give a cheer of relief. I collect up all of the boxes, pile them inside each other and then hurl them into the hall. I stand up and look around. With the clothes boxes gone, my bedroom is looking slightly less cluttered. I look down and my feet to see all of the other boxes that still need to be unpacked. I moan and get back to work.

...

"Praise the Lord," I mutter as I tiredly throw the last box into the hall. All of my things have been put away. My books are on my book shelf, my laptop is on my desk, my iPod is in its docking station and my posters are blue tacked to the wall. Ah, my posters. They are my pride and joy. Two of my bedroom walls are completely covered in them. I have quite the collection: most of my favourite bands, various movies posters and a bunch of celebrities.

"Mum!" I yell, "That's me finished!"

"Lucky," I hear Ella grumble from her bedroom. I grin.

"Oh good!" Mum shouts back, "Are you just going to settle down now? It's getting quite late."

"Yeah," I answer. I check the time on my watch: it is just coming on eight.

"Would you like a hot chocolate?" Mum asks.

"Yes please!" I yell enthusiastically.

"Okay, can you ask your sister if she wants one too?"

"I do!" Ella says loudly before I get the chance to ask her.

"Right, I will bring them up in about five minutes," Mum shouts, "Ella, have you finished unpacking yet?"

"I am almost done," Ella calls, "Just a few small boxes left."

"Try and get them done quickly, okay honey?" Mum says, slightly quieter now that she has presumable moved to the bottom of the stairs.

"That's what I'm striving for." Ella answers.

"Good girl," Mum says, "I'll get started on the hot chocolates."

"Thanks!" I shout.

I get up off the floor and pick up my laptop from my desk. I carry it over to my bed, which has been freshly covered with my black bed sheets, and place it down. I plug it into the wall and turn it on. While my laptop loads, I get changed into baggy joggies and a strappy pyjama top. I then start piling pillows up against the back board of my bed, sit down and pull a fluffy blanket over my legs. A position I have assumed many times over the summer holidays. I bring my laptop up onto my thighs and open up Google Chrome. With tumblr open on one tab and YouTube open on another, I begin my decent into endless hours of internet surfing.

A few minutes later, I hear mum walk up the stairs with the hot chocolates. "Max!" she grumbles angrily.

"Yes?" I answer confused.

"Why are all of your cardboard boxes littering the entire hall floor?" she demands.

Woopsie.

"How do you know they are mine?" I ask defensively.

"The fact that your name is written in capital letters on each of them is a clear indicator that the boxes belong to you," Mum answers irritably.

"Oh right," I say, "Sorry."

"Show a little more care in future," Mum says. I hear her shuffling about as she piles the boxes in a more organised way.

"Will do."

A few seconds later, mum comes into my bedroom with two delicious looking hot chocolates. Mini marshmallows, whip cream, the works.

"Oh yum!" I exclaim, "Thanks!"

"You are lucky you are still getting this after being so untidy with the boxes," Mum says pointing her finger at me.

I grin innocently as she hands me the hot chocolate.

"Your room is looking nice," Mum smiles as she looks around.

"Oh yeah," I agree.

"_Max!_" Mum exclaims as she looks at me.

"What?" I demand, anxious to get a sip of my hot drink.

"How many times have I told you to keep your laptop away from your thighs?" she asks.

"Quite a few," I sigh as I grab a pillow from behind my head and place it in between me and my laptop.

"Better?"

"Slightly," Mum answers, "You need to watch that. Prolonged exposure to the waves given off—"

"—is really bad for my health," I finish for mum. I have been lectured on it many times. I had long since given up with arguing with her.

"Exactly, so please stop doing it!"

"I will," I promise.

"You said that the last time," Mum reminds me.

"This time I really will," I insist.

"I am certain you said that the last—"

"I get it! Now go and give Ella her hot chocolate before it gets cold!" I order.

"Don't get snappy with me," Mum says poking my knee. I give her a strained smile.

"I'm going! I'm going!" She sighs, raising her free hand in surrender.

I grin, turn back to You-Tube and take a long sip of hot chocolate. Delicious.

...

"Max!" Mum forcefully whispers as she creeps into my room. I tear my eyes away from the computer screen and squint at her in the darkness.

"Yes?" I whisper back.

"It's half past ten," she says quietly, "I'm off to bed now."

"Okay," I answer, "Night."

"I want you to be in bed by eleven," Mum insists, "No staying up till the early hours of the morning on your laptop okay?"

"Yes, mum," I say robotically.

"Remember to brush your teeth," she adds, "And do it quietly, your sister is fast as sleep."

"Right."

"Oh and I have invited the neighbours over for lunch tomorrow."

"Cool," I say distractedly, not paying any attention, "Night."

"Good night, Max," Mum whispers bending over to give me a kiss on my forehead, "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't," I answer, focussing my attention back to the amusing pictures.

...

A loud thump from something falling in my room brings me back to reality. My eyes dart to the bottom corner of my laptop screen to check the time. Ten minutes past two. I mentally curse. I push my laptop away from me, shut it down then place it on the floor. While the light from my shutting down laptop is still dimly lighting my room, I quietly walk over to my bedroom door and turn on the light. I then creep into the bathroom, go to the toilet, brush my teeth then wash my face, all within the time frame of five minutes.

I carefully tip toe back into my bedroom so that I do not wake mum. I shudder at the thought of how much trouble I would be in if she knew I was still awake. I place my hand over the light switch and silently count back down from three. On one, I turn off the light and the room is immediately engulfed in darkness. All at once, every single creepy horror movie that I have ever seen flashes across my mind in ridiculous amounts of detail. I give a pathetic squeal, sprint into my bed, dive under the covers and close my eyes. Gradually, tiredness overcomes me and I fall into a dreamless sleep.

...

**Hello again! Well, I'm Joy and I am pretty new to fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was really just a starter for the story. The plot will heat up a little more in the coming chapters. My update day for this story will be Saturday so expect weekly chapters. Leave any comments or criticisms you have in a review!**

**Love always,**

**Joy. **


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